Financial news

• Why Trump prefers Mario Draghi over Jerome Powell

  28-07-2019 12:44 via theguardian.com
  As the US president at last gets his interest rate cut he must wish he could have had the bold ECB boss at the FedCentral bankers rarely say anything that sticks in the memory. Mark Carney has been at the Bank of England for the past six years and is known as the rock star central banker, and not always in a good way. His answers to questions at press conferences are often like solos from the lead guitarist of a 1970s prog rock band: long and boring.Indeed, only two central bankers have ever com
  
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• Boris Johnson ‘turbo-charging’ no-deal Brexit plans, say ministers

  28-07-2019 12:34 via theguardian.com
  Cabinet blitzes media, saying preparations for crashing out are top priorityBoris Johnson is “turbo-charging” preparations to leave the EU without a deal on 31 October as his government’s number one priority, according to several senior cabinet ministers.The new prime minister sent out cabinet ministers for interviews across newspapers and broadcasters this weekend as part of a publicity blitz about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Continue reading...
  
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• Mnuchin is wrong: Amazon has done more good than bad for small business | Gene Marks

  28-07-2019 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The treasury secretary said Amazon ‘destroyed the retail industry’ – but the company created opportunities for more than 1.9m small businesses around the worldTake a walk today down New York City’s Seventh Avenue – or any Main Street in small-town America – and you’ll see that things look a lot different than they did 40 or even 20 years ago.Back then there were lots of retail stores selling shoes, clothes, sporting equipment and books. Today … no
  
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• Experts call for ban on glass skyscrapers to save energy in climate crisis

  28-07-2019 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Air conditioning is used to avoid greenhouse effect but cooling buildings adds to carbon emissionsLeading architects and engineers are calling for all-glass skyscrapers to be banned because they are too difficult and expensive to cool.“If you’re building a greenhouse in a climate emergency, it’s a pretty odd thing to do to say the least,” said Simon Sturgis, an adviser to the government and the Greater London Authority, as well as chairman of the Royal Institute of Britis
  
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• Not so smart: bad meter installations leave customers in debt and in the dark

  28-07-2019 09:00
  Consumers are left footing the bill when a much-vaunted new technology goes wrongValerie Cooper has always budgeted carefully in order to pay her utility bills on time. Now she faces cancelling a holiday to celebrate her husband’s 70th birthday after her supplier, Shell, turned her £1,450 credit into £666 arrears overnight. The cause was the botched installation of a smart meter which was supposed to save her money.“An engineer came in October 2017 and by 8pm he was still
  
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• 'By 'eck it's gorgeous': how a 1993 beer advert changed Manchester

  28-07-2019 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Twenty five years ago, Manchester passed as Venice in a classic ad for Boddingtons beer – and the canals were never the same againThere is a sense of erotic anticipation. Two gondolas drift towards each other languorously. A woman and man eye each other in a knowing, sexually charged way. Ribbons on the gondoliers’ hats flutter out of focus, bouquets adorn the boats. “You’re meant to think you’re watching an art film set in Venice,” recalls director Jeff Stark
  
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• Piloting Ryanair through bumpy times may be a stretch even for Michael O’Leary

  28-07-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The budget carrier’s first-quarter results, due tomorrow, will show the effects of strikes, fuel costs and rising salaries There is a lot of turbulence in the European airlines business. Strong competition among carriers and weak consumer confidence are pushing down fares as fuel costs rise. Brexit and slowdowns in the UK and other large economies threaten to make matters worse.Ryanair, which reports first-quarter numbers on 29 July, has low costs and a strong balance sheet, and usually st
  
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• Boris Johnson must know that a no-deal Brexit is just plain crazy | William Keegan

  28-07-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  We have seen external shocks and misguided policies push Britain into crisis before. But never willed self-harm like this‘While we were strongly opposed to the Trotskyist revolution that has taken place in this country, now that it has occurred the important thing is that it should be made to work properly.”It was on something like those lines that a few of us wrote a parody of a Financial Times leading article many years ago on a very slow news day, when I was working for the FT. Co
  
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• Jumping Jack cash: how young Mick Jagger planned his pension

  28-07-2019 07:30 via theguardian.com
  The young Rolling Stone had more sympathy for his bus pass than the devil, says his former accountantTo his fans, he was a young man focused on sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. But in his mid-20s Mick Jagger had other, rather more sedate, things on his mind, it has been claimed: a pension plan for his retirement.The Rolling Stones star turned 76 last week and appears to have no plans to hang up his microphone. But when he was young he found the idea that he would still be performing after
  
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